Had mine replaced about 4.5 years and 35,000 miles ago, but to my surprise they have now gone again. How many miles are you other owners finding your rear bushes are lasting after they have been replaced ? Mine were really shot when I got the car at 53,000 miles, so maybe they do only last 35-40K ? Thx David

i suspect that they were not fitted correctly, mine have done about 50k now since i last changed them with the way we devised on here.
i would go back to the garage and ask them why they have failed so early then come back here and do them yourself, after the outlay of tools it will still work out cheaper doing it yourself.
there is also a member on here that will do them as well (the correct way) of you search you will find him.

Thx 4 your reply Roy. The replacement bushes have arrived today. I am going to get the garage to do it who did it last time, its not a job I feel confident in doing and I just dont have the time. I want to make it 100% clear to the garage how these bushes have to be fitted, so what exactly do I tell them? I also want to check how they fitted the last lot before they remove them, just in case they are in the wrong way around, if thats possible? The ones fitted now have the end with the end plate on the inside of the hole in the axle/beam (i.e end plates are facing each other under the car). I had the car lifted on a four poster and looked at the bushes, the rubbers have both split in the same place, on the outside end, nearest the wheels, i.e. the opposite end to the end plate on each one. There are no arrows or markings on my new Fiat bushes that arrived today, so I dont know how you tell the correct rotational fittment in the axle bore?

But has anyone got a set of Shadyman's 3 pronged machined pushers I can buy or borrow to lend the garage? I see that they fit in the holes in the bushes end plates to push the bushes in? I know Stuart, but he's moved to Devon and disappeared off here now he has a posh Volvo XC90. I have e-mailed him but he has'nt replied.
Unless you are reading this Stu?

The bushes are fitted from the inside of the axle so the end plates with the 3 cut-outs face each other as in the first picture below.

However, fitting them from the wrong side is not the only way they can be fitted the 'wrong way round'. The bushes also need to be orientated correctly in their housings. Fiat supplied bushes used to have an arrow on them that should point towards the front of the car and the tail of the arrow should line up with the welded seam on the axle. Aftermarket and later Fiat bushes don't have the arrow but there's a small half round cut-out in the end plate that can be used as an indication of where the arrow should be.

If your garage doesn't already have the 3 pronged press piece, then it's likely that they damaged the current bushes when they fitted them. The press force must act on the outer metal cylinder. Without the press piece the bushes would have been pressed in on the end plate. That would have pushed the central tube part way through the bush, which could have damaged the rubber.
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Thx Davren, I believe that the garage probably just put them in the rear axle bore and took no notice of the rotational fit. They told me yesterday they have done several sets of these bushes and they say "they dont last longer than about 50,000 miles". I asked them if they pushed the bushes in by pushing on the end plate, and they said, "of course not, we use a large split metal ring which we put behind the end plate and the press pushes only on that".

davidthelodge said:

Thx Davren, I believe that the garage probably just put them in the rear axle bore and took no notice of the rotational fit. They told me yesterday they have done several sets of these bushes and they say "they dont last longer than about 50,000 miles". I asked them if they pushed the bushes in by pushing on the end plate, and they said, "of course not, we use a large split metal ring which we put behind the end plate and the press pushes only on that".

Click to expand...

It seems they've not known what they're doing for a long while through their own ignorance at the expense of their customers

davidthelodge said:

How many miles are you other owners finding your rear bushes are lasting

Click to expand...

Factory bushes went around 90,000 miles. I did a diy replacement at 95,000 miles, and they're still fine today at 140,000 miles.

(https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/268211-stilo-rear-bushes-one-mans-struggle.html)

Well I have found it impossible too buy the 3 pronged machined press tool to push the new bushing in, (Fiat part number 2000000400). Basically every dealer I have phoned tells me its not available and on "back order" with no stock even in Italy. Has anyone local to kidderminster got a machined 3 prong bush pusher they are prepared to lend out? I mailed Shadyman to see if he still has one I could borrow but got no reply. Anyway on Thursday its going into the same garage that replaced them last time. I also think at least 1 wheel rear bearing has gone due to the bushes being shot as there is a humming noise coming from the back end. Have others had their rear wheel bearings wear out, due to broken rear bushes ?